Hyo Dong Gak

Prompt service, fresh ingredients but food’s not flavorful. I had and. Probably will pick a different place next time.

3 stars: I would come bak.
Come for the Korean-​style Chinese food. My standbys here are the black bean noodles (jjajjangmyeon/​tchatchaangmyŏn/​jajangmyun) and the fried pork in sweet and sour sauce (t’angsuyuk/tangsuyuk/tangsooyook).

One of my very worst experiences with Chinese food in NYC. I had to take the chicken out of my fried dumplings in order to cover my dinner supply.
No thank you! Won’t come again!

It’s a homey environment with fair prices and food. I was looking forward to trying the jjajangmyeon which was average.

We were originally trying to go to Izakaya Mew for dinner and they happened to be closed on a Sunday despite the hours of operation sign on the door stating they should be open … Wth ???
It was a blessing in disguise. We ended up at the friendly serviced Korean Chinese restaurant next door.
Hyo Dong Gak is apparently famous in the Korean community for their spicy seafood noodle soup.
I had it and it’s great. The soup has an almost creamy texture. The noodles are cooked well and ample fresh seafood accompanies the dish.
Prices here are quite reasonable for a ktown resto and they have a happy hour special for $ 3 Korean beers.
Service was good and the atmosphere was clean and not too cramped or loud, which is a refreshing change from much of ktown. Just walk 3 blocks north for better value food and avoiding the long waits.
They got the rep, the quality, the value and even the booze down pat.

Located in K-​town, Hyo Dong Gak specializes in Korean-​Chinese food. Don’t expect the restaurant to offer traditional Korean (i.e. bibimbap, tofu soup, etc.) or Chinese food. Instead, Hyo Dong Gak fuses both cuisines, and I’d highly recommend getting something from the noodle section.
My favorite (and probably the most popular) dish is the Noodle with Brown Sauce, or Jajangmyun. Over a bed of thin, chewy noodles is a thick black sauce made of soybean paste, cubes of pork, and onion. Most places use the fattiest cut of pork meat, but I was pleased that the Jajangmyun here had actual meaty part of the pork. The dish comes with a side of kimchi, pickled yellow radish, and raw onion.
Another popular Korean-​Chinese noodle is the Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup, or Jjampong. If you have low spice tolerance, you shouldn’t order this dish. The noodle used in Jjampong is the same as the one in Jajangmyun, but instead of the black sauce, you get spicy, red broth with seafood like squid, mussels, and shrimp.
If you are indecisive or want to try both, Hyo Dong Gak also offers half-​and-​half option of the above noodles.
I have also gotten the Seafood Noodle Gravy Soup, which is similar to Jjampong except the broth is white, THICK, and not spicy. The broth reminded me of a thicker version of an egg drop soup.
Other dishes that I’ve tried, but would NOT recommend: Mushroom and Bamboo Shoots. It had a weird smell, and the sauce was too gravy-​like and thick.
The Candied Rice Balls: these are mochi balls filled with sesame paste and covered in caramelized sugar — way too sweet!

I was really craving a spicy seafood soup, and my friend found this place on Unilocal.It looked promising, mostly because it is frequented by a largely Korean crowd, and you know what they say about an ethnic restaurant that is largely frequented by individuals of that particular ethnicity… For a party of two, you don’t need to make reservations, but they were packed on Friday night, so if you could lock down some sort of reservation, that might be the better option.
We ordered the seafood black bean noodle and the spicy seafood soup with noodles, which are two of the most popular items on their menu. The seafood black bean noodle DOES contain meat, FYI. My friend is pescatarian, and she was not pleased to find out half way through a bite that there was meat in the sauce. This might be something good to indicate on the menu…
I liked the chewiness of the noodles, but the food overall was unsettling on my stomach. It might have been the spiciness of the soup or the sheer volume of noodles. Who knows. I also found everything to be a tad bit too salty. I was gulping cupfuls of water by the end of the night.
Overall, the food is decent, but not particularly special. I typically hate wasting food and will doggy-​bag a reasonable amount of leftovers, but nothing that we ordered was really worth the hassle of packing and taking to go. Everything is reasonably priced, and you can more than eat your fill for less than $ 15, but I feel like I’d rather take that money and spend it somewhere else in k-​town where I know I’d enjoy the meal a bit more.

We were in NYC recently and looked this place up on Unilocal since we were in the mood for jang jang myun. Jang jang myun is a bowl of noodles served with a bean sauce that contains sautéed beef (or pork) and vegetables. Inside it’s rather plain, but pretty typical of Korean restaurants you might encounter.
I had the spicy jang jang myun and immediately felt that the noodles were overcooked and almost «mushy». However, the sauce was spiced nicely and tasty. We also had fried dumplings and those were ok I suppose. Overall, portions were just about right for everything.
We have plenty of these places to choose from in Northern VA and I’ve had much better jang jang myun back home. I’ll likely return and try some other items on the menu that are Chinese-​influenced.

Decent Korean-​Chinese food spot. Beats out Shanghai Mong and the other joints similar in the city. Food comes out pretty quick and servers are overall attentive. I recommend getting the half Jjamppong & Jjajjangmyun bowl. You get generous portions of both and in the jjamppong section they add tons of seafood to enjoy your delectable meal.
However there are other restaurants similar to this in Queens that taste much more authentic and use better noodles. Hard to explain but has a more homestyle taste to them.

A place I visit frequently! I like this place because of their huge portions. The food is pretty good quality too! Had the jjajangmyun, jjamppong, and their meat dishes (kkanpoonggi and tangsuyook). All of them were really yummy!

The sesame chicken was $ 18 with tax and tip — good, but not really worth the price. The jjajanmyum is pretty good. I like it here because it’s fast and there usually isn’t a wait.

It’s a good spot for Korean Chinese food. Remember it being better when I was younger. Might have to go to Flushing for Jja Jjang Myun. Still very solid for Korean Chinese fix in midtown.

brown noodles + spicy chili shrimp = my type of romantic dinner. nothing like slurpin’ up mysteriously sauced strands with brightly coated giant shrimp to reinforce the comfort of your love… for weird chinese korean food.
the only sucky thing about this spot is that the kitchen closes promptly at 9 with no exceptions. not a single one! not even tears can put the frying pan back into the cook’s hands !

jjajangmyun
jjamppong
kkam poong gee
seafood pajun
no msg as advertised.
tastes like there is non added.
food is good for nyc,
but average in general.
portions aren’t large.

First time here, and went for lunch.
Nice standard Korean lunch specials at a good price.
Had the seafood lunch special. It was good. Nothing fancy and not expensive. A good easy lunch place. I wouldn’t take someone on a business lunch here, but would go with work friends
The A sanitary inspection score differentiated it from the other Korean lunch spot on the block. Cleaner than other 24 hour places, as a plus

Was in the mood for Jja Jang Myun/​Jjajangmyun so I stopped here as I have heard mixed things about Mong nearby. As I was there at an odd time for a meal (3:30/4) there was only one other person here, but by the time I left, there were maybe ⁴⁄₅ groups, all speaking Korean, though I mostly heard the slurping.
Menu is a mix of Chinese, American Chinese, some Korean (mostly soups/​stews.) For those into alcohol, they have a quite large but pricy selection of Chinese Rice Wine as well as a pretty good selection of soju, wine, sake, and a general assortment of beer. They also make soju cocktails because why not. It’s an interesting menu to say the least. They have a literal American Chinese menu separate as well but I quickly disregarded that (At least they gave the other menu as well so no problem.)
On the very last page of the «good» menu, they have a combo for 15.99, or something similar, of Jja Jang Myung or another similar black bean dish with another fried dish, personally had it with some sweet/​sour/​spicy fried pork thought there were also chicken and other little dishes.
Side dishes/​banchan were well… odd. There were 2 of them, a large plate of pickled radishes (delicious but that large portion, what?) and a plate of some uncooked onions/​some cooked cabbage or something similar with some soybean sauce. They have some condiments like some crushed hot pepper and vinegar for these banchan. I personally used the hot pepper and it worked well for the later.
Got the main dishes in a short while, a bit longer than the people next to me but nog biggie.
Han See Yook (Maybe?)
Pork was a lot better than expected. The sauce itself was quite hot (not spicy, almost-​literally boiling hot) and there wasn’t so much batter that it removed any of the other flavor. There were some other vegetables in there, namely onion, wood-​ear mushroom (the black squishy mushroom,) and some dried peppers along with the pork. Pretty solid for a dish I thought would be just an aftertaste/​a good mix of flavor for how rich the Myun was going to be.
3.65
Nice portion of Jjajangmyun. Noodles had a perfect texture and it wasn’t watery at all. It was perfectly thick and the sauce had some great flavors. Vegetables were good as well. One of the better Jjajangmyun’s I have had.
3.9
So the place is in between a 3 and a 4, closer to a 4 for the food and closer to a 3/3.5 for the service (as it is slow but accommodating.)
3.65 Not bad at all.

This is one my go to spots for Korean-​Chinese soul food. They have big portions and prices are very reasonable. Service ain’t bad as long as you don’t get on one fo the ajumma’s bad side!
What everyone gets here and what I recommend:
Seafood jajangmyun (Noodle With Seafood Brown Sauce)
Fried Chicken With Garlic & Pepper Sauce (spicy)
Spicy Seafood Soup
A lot of customers also get the Fried Chicken With Sweet & Sour Sauce but it is not my favorite.

This is probably the best chinese-​korean restaurant in the city! My favorite dish here is the sweet and sour fried beef! Here’s a little tip… if you ask for the sauce on the side and deep the pieces in the sauce, it keeps it crispier longer!
I like the jajangmyun and the fried dumplings too! Stick to these three dishes. they are my favorite three on the menu!

When a Korean friend queried my preferred Korean food for dinner, I admitted that aside from BBQ and tofu stews, I knew of little else. I left the choice in her hands and found myself having Korean remakes of Chinese food.
Being quite familiar with the Japanese versions of Chinese dumplings and fried rice, it should have come as no surprise that the Koreans could (and did) take on Chinese food. But as with any new cultural food discovery, I was absurdly pleased and fascinated.
These type of restaurants routinely provide cheap takeout in Korea, apparently occupying a place similar to Chinese — American restaurants in the States. Certainly, the menu recalls them, with choices like hot and sour soup, egg drop soup, dumplings, fried rice, but also dishes with Szechuan and Hunan influence.
The barebones English menu isn’t terribly helpful if you don’t know the food, anymore than the ones in Chinese restaurants. What can «Fried Beef» or «Noodles in Brown Sauce» be?
I was steered to two classic dishes to be had in Korean — Chinese restaurants: tangsuyuk and jjajangmyeon. The former is a sweet and sour stir fry, theirs made with beef. Lightly battered slices of fried beef match well with a crisp-​tender vegetable sauté, glazed with a slightly sweet and sour sauce that is refreshing and nothing like the sickeningly sweet stuff on Chinese American menus, although not exactly the Cantonese classic either.
The jjajangmyeon (under the «Noodles» section) can be had with different sauces. A big bowl of chewy noodles come separate from the sauce, in our case, a spicy bean sauce. Messily mixed together, with optional condiments added, it has the draw of comfort food.
And because one can never have too many, a perfectly good order of fried mandoo, eight golden, juicy dumplings rounded out the meal.
If Hyo Dong Gak is any indicator, Korean-​Chinese food is tasty and satisfying. It lacks depth of flavor, but it doesn’t need it. Definitely something to have after a night of drinking.

How do you say «slurp, slurp» in Korean?
It was dinner selection time and the team decided on Hyo Dong Gak. I had never been, so I guess it was technically my inaugural meal there, especially since it’s apparently a frequent team destination.
Upon arrival, they served a few platters, including kimchi, pickled radish, and raw onion. I had never been served raw onion before, but our Korean coworker poured vinegar all over it, which in combination with the soybean sauce gave it a bite and sour kick, surrounded by the sweet of the onion and the sauce.
We all ordered the «Noodle with brown sauce,» a standard jjajangmyun: a bed of yellow, ramen-​like noodles with the brown meat sauce on top. The apparent history of the dish (as told by my coworker) is that when the Chinese started immigrating to Korea, the concept of the dish was brought over but not the flavors or ingredients. Hence jjajangmyun was born. To be completely honest, I prefer the Chinese version because that’s what I grew up on, but the quality of these noodles and the depth of the sauce made this meal worth the trip.
We also split an order of the tangsuyuk, which was a lot of deep fried chicken niblets served on a bed of veggies doused in a sweet and sour sauce. This dish wouldn’t be my first guess as to what an authentic Korean dish is, but I guess it is! I loved how crispy the meat was, which reminded me of a crunchier tempura crust. I’m not sure if I appreciated the sweet sauce (I had a few pieces that managed to escape the deluge), but it was a welcome addition to the noodles.
Affordable, fast, and quality Korean north of Ktown is a plus in my book. I definitely won’t be back as often I go back to BCD, but it’s another option in the area.